Monitoring reports from North Kivu, DRC

Throughout the week, IGCP has kept in touch with our partners throughout Mikeno sector including Virunga National Park staff, partner NGOs, and community organizations we work with.

In an objective assessment of community conservation in the 20 years of the IGCP coalition, the authors wrote “The true value of community conservation is only likely to be realized under non-normal ‘shock’ conditions.”

We are currently experiencing such conditions as normal operations by park management and conservation NGOs have been disrupted and parts of mountain gorilla habitat are left in the hands the communities that surround the park, and unfortunately the rebels. It is IGCP’s hope that collective community conservation efforts during the peace of the last three years (and the many years prior) are yielding some protection to the mountain gorillas and their habitat during this resurgence in conflict.

We have also been monitoring the reporting of these non-normal conditions in the media. For those of you following along with us, here are some reports to watch and read. We also suggest Radio Okapi for reporting on the situation.